Letters to the editor on Syria, renaming airport, Wagle and ALEC, voter ID, Huelskamp, Spirit layoffs, help from stranger

I was struck by the irony of our remembering Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech and his non-violent movement at the very same time that we’re drumming the drum beats of war against Syria. “CBS Evening News” opened last Wednesday with President Obama speaking on the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, followed immediately by a report on our ratcheting up our readiness to make a military strike against Syria. Which example are we following?

ELDON EPP

Wichita

Keep name

Why is it necessary to rename everything in Kansas (“Rename airport,” Aug. 18 Letters to the Editor)? I know, let’s change Wichita to “Dole,” in honor of our former senator Bob Dole. Let’s rename the Kellogg flyover to “Joe Walsh Life in the Fast Lane Autobahn.” We could change I-235 to “Bill Graves Pack Them High and Tight.”

Now imagine giving someone directions to the airport: “Take the Martin Luther King Jr. Express south until it turns into Bill Graves Pack Them High and Tight, then go over the Joe Walsh Life in the Fast Lane Autobahn and continue until you arrive at the Wichita Dwight E. Eisenhower International Airport.”

I like things simple. I use names like Kellogg, Mid-Continent, Canal Route, I-235. I don’t like long names and long signs – I can’t read them in time to make my off-ramp.

So keep the airport petition. Put it to a vote, and I’ll bet anyone with an ounce of practicality or common sense will vote for the status quo. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

LONNIE LONG

Wichita

Wagle and ALEC

Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, recently clarified her legislative priorities when she stated that she seeks input from the business sector before casting a vote (“ALEC about finding effective solutions,” Aug. 25 Opinion). I am sure Wagle is very grateful to the American Legislative Exchange Council for providing a “table at which lawmakers, policy analysts and business leaders meet to exchange ideas and inform one another on effective solutions to state and local matters,” as she quaintly put it.

In reality ALEC is a bill mill that cranks out corporate-friendly model legislation and passes it on to compliant conservative state legislators for implementation. This is why there has been so much bad legislation coming out of various states on similar topics, such as “stand your ground” gun laws, voter ID, right to work union busting, privatization of schools, and drug testing of the unemployed seeking benefits.

Wagle forgets that the primary engine fueling the prosperity of local business is strong consumer demand coming from a prosperous and populous middle class. If people don’t have money to spend, businesses fail, no matter how much deregulation and tax breaks you give them.

It would be more helpful for local business, as well as the rest of her constituents, if Wagle were more concerned about the growing economic inequality and the human misery it is generating.

MARY WEHRHEIM

Wichita

Stop whining

For several years after my father died, when my mother received her voter registration card in the mail, my deceased father’s card came also. Before the voter ID law, anyone could have gone in and stated his name, signed and voted, and no one would have been able to prove it. I’m sure there are thousands of dead people on voter logs, so don’t pretend to say voter fraud didn’t or can’t happen.

Liberals need to stop their incessant whining about what is the right and moral thing to do. No one believes that they have never once had to prove you are a U.S. citizen or had to show a photo ID. Or how “impossible” it is to get.

If obtaining an ID is too complicated or too time consuming, then you either don’t care or you’re too stupid to vote anyway. If you were offered $10,000 to show ID, you would magically be able to. Stop making this about some phony persecution of certain people.

There is only one reason to be against ID laws, and that is because it’s easier to cheat. We all know liberals benefits from it; that’s why they’re the only ones opposing voter ID laws.

TODD ROBINSON

Wichita

Ignoring oath

U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, took the following oath when he was elected to the House of Representatives:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

The Affordable Care Act is law, like it or not. It has been found by the Supreme Court to be constitutional, like it or not. By refusing to provide his constituents with information about ACA, Huelskamp is violating his oath of office (Aug. 23 Blog Excerpts).

Do the voters of the Big First like the idea of an individual not keeping his sacred oath? Do they pay Huelskamp $174,000 per year, plus benefits, to decide which laws should be complied with and which not? If so, I wish them luck when Huelskamp decides that he cannot support a law they like.

PHILIP H. SCHNEIDER

Wichita

Dispiriting work

Once again, Spirit AeroSystems is squeezing its workers to make millionaires out of top management. Many of Spirit’s most-capable people have been escorted out the door. Many years of experience has been lost.

Though it is sometimes necessary for a reduction in workforce, this is not the time. The methodology being used by Spirit in the reduction is reprehensible. If you are not an executive, it cannot be a pleasant workplace, wondering if it is your turn to be escorted out as though you were a criminal.

In addition to reducing workforce, Spirit’s management is working hard to reduce morale.

DON LOGSDON

Douglass

Models of caring

As an American Red Cross disaster relief volunteer, I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to the Allen Elementary School and community for providing a place of shelter to those affected by the Ashley Lane Apartments fire.

I can somewhat understand the concerns expressed by those who felt a school was not the place for a shelter. I believe their concern comes from the fear of the unknown. But I also believe that we must reach out to our fellow man and give a hand in time of need. And that means overcoming our fear, dismantling our routines and stepping into the unknown.

Over and over we heard from those affected by the fire how grateful they were to be alive and being helped and surrounded by caring people.

If I am ever victim of a disaster, I hope and pray that I will also be surrounded by a group of people such as we saw at Allen Elementary. They are truly models for the rest of us and the children they serve.

CARLA SMITH

Wichita

Unexpected help

On Aug. 23, I took my computer to Ribbit Computers at Maple and West. My husband has cancer, and I was having issues trying to come up with the money to pay for the computer repair, as we will soon be having a lot of medical bills.

The Ribbit employee told me that I needed a new hard drive that would cost $85. He lowered the price to $69, and I said that was better but still a lot of money.

There was a gentleman at the counter who overheard our conversation. He said, “Bless you,” on my way out of the store.

When I was out, I received a phone message from the employee, telling me that my bill was paid by the gentleman. I don’t know who this man is, and I want to thank him.

I appreciate this man’s kindness. I knew that there were people out there like him, but I was not expecting anything like that to happen to us. I appreciate Ribbit Computers for working with me as well.

BETTY PEARSON

Wichita

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